1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image input/output apparatus such as a digital copying machine, an image input/output system, a method of controlling an image input/output apparatus or an image input/output system, a storage medium, an operation method of an image input/output system, and a method of displaying a user interface screen in an image input/output system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image input/output apparatuses such as a digital copying machine and image input/output systems have been developed.
The digital copy machine reads an image by using a CCD into a digital image signal, performs various processes on the digital image signal, and converts the resultant image signal into a laser signal thereby recording an image on a recording medium by means of electrophotography.
It is known in the art to store an image signal in an image memory such as a hard disk and read it when an image is formed. In this technique, once an image signal obtained via a scanner is stored in the image memory, the image can be formed an arbitrary number of times. This technique is useful in particular because it makes it possible to perform electronic sorting.
In the art of digital copy machines, a sheet insertion mode has been proposed.
In the sheet insertion mode, when a set of document pages is printed, a special sheet (such as colored sheets) fed from a sheet tray that is different from a main sheet tray is inserted as an insertion sheet at a specified page. Herein, an insertion sheet may be simply inserted between pages on which document images are printed (but no image is printed on the insertion sheet itself), or an insertion sheet may be used for a particular page on which a document image is printed.
However, in the sheet insertion mode, a user has to set processing conditions in the sheet insertion mode (to specify at which page to insert an additional sheet and specify whether to print on the inserted sheet) before the apparatus starts inputting of document data to be processed in the sheet insertion mode. For example, the setting of processing conditions is performed during a preprocess in which various conditions including print conditions are input, so that processing in the sheet insertion mode is performed correctly. Also in the composite-with-form mode, as in the sheet insertion mode, users need to make settings associated with various processing conditions, such as selection of a form image to be combined or specifying of a document page with which to combine the form image, before the apparatus starts the operation in the composite-with-form mode. Thus, users have to decide all details of conditions associated with processing to be performed in a desired mode such as the sheet insertion mode or the composite-with-form mode and make settings associated with all processing conditions, before the apparatus starts processing on documents to be processed.
The above problems occur not only in the sheet insertion mode and the composite-with-form mode, but similar problems can also occur when the apparatus is operated in an output mode under specified output processing conditions. That is, users have to know information on all details of conditions associated with output processing to be performed and have to make settings associated with all processing conditions, before the apparatus starts processing.
In the conventional techniques, as described above, in a case in which processing is performed in a mode in which a user has to correctly set processing conditions depending on the content and/or the state of documents to be processed, users have to know all details of documents to be processed and have to decide and set all conditions associated with processing to be performed, before the processing is started, and thus users have to perform complicated and troublesome operations. The above problem becomes more serious when a large number of documents are processed. In particular, in the sheet insertion mode, users have to decide and specify at which document pages additional sheets should be inserted. Thus, users have to do very troublesome job when there are a great number of documents to be processed. In the composite-with-form mode, users also have to select a form image to be combined and decide a position at which the form image is to be put, and have to make settings according to the decision, and thus users also have to do very troublesome job in particular when there are a great number of documents to be processed.